Sex on Fire

The first single from Only by the Night reached number one in the UK, Ireland and Australia, and it reached the top of the UK chart on digital downloads alone, before its physical release. It spent 42 straight weeks on the UK chart and 90 in total, and has sold 1.2 million copies there as of November 2012. In the US it reached number 56 on the Hot 100 and number one on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. It won the Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 51st ceremony, on 8 February 2009, and was also nominated for Best Rock Song. It came first in the Triple J Hottest 100 for 2008 and was number 40 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 best songs of that year.

Caleb Followill told NME that he nearly dropped it. He said he had a melody and did not know what to say. He thought it was terrible, but the rest of the band liked the hook. Nathan Followill told Triple J that the lyrics were first meant to be Set Us on Fire, until a studio sound mixer walked in and said the new title, and it became a running joke. The song was written about Caleb's then-girlfriend, now wife, the model Lily Aldridge. Sophie Muller directed the video, which has the band in an abandoned factory.

Reception and covers

Rolling Stone's Christian Hoard called it pulsating and New Wave. The Guardian's Alexis Petridis heard an arid AOR march. Tina Cousins released a dance version in 2010, and Beyonce performed it at Glastonbury in 2011.